![]() ![]() ![]() Sliding over to high school English, we're treated to the hyperbolic version of Salem served up in Arthur Miller's preachy play.īut as "The Witches" demonstrates, the more attention one pays to the minute historical details the harder it is to be certain about what exactly happened and why - a problem made worse by mysterious gaps in the documentary record, including any transcripts from the actual trials. Cutting right to the chase, Stacy Schiff begins "The Witches" - her spellbinding account of the great American crack-up known as the Salem Witch Trials - by telling us what happened: "In 1692 the Massachusetts Bay Colony executed fourteen women, five men and two dogs for witchcraft."Įxcepting the dogs - a characteristic Schiff addition, reflecting her eye for the telling detail in this prodigiously researched book - that's the bare-bones version of Salem we encounter in high school history. ![]()
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